Dust-guard for cars



(No Model.) v

F; Nip-STEVENS.

. Dust Guard for Oars.

No. 231,628 Patented Aug. 24,1880.

'INVENT R:

".PEI'ERS. PHOTO-LIIHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON. D C.

STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK STEVENS, OF CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

DUST-GUARD 'FOR CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent 'No. 231,628, dated August 24, 1880.

Application filed April 15, 1880. (No model.)

To all whom-it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK M. STEVENS, of Con cord, in the county of Merrimack and State of New Hampshire, haveinvented certain improvements in Dust-Guards for Railway-Cars, of which the following is a specification.

One of the greatest annoyances in railway traveling is the dust which enters the windows of the cars. This dust is first lifted by the engine, it being dislodged by the current of air which the latter carries with it and the eddies of air caused by the rotation of the wheels of the engine and cars raising it higher and higher, and causingit to flow up and over the sides of the ears, whose windows it enters in large quantities if they be open, or sifts in around their sashes if they be closed.

The object of my invention is tooverc'ome this evil, which I accomplish by causing a counter-current of air to flow down the sides of the car, thus overcoming the upward current of dust-laden air and carrying the dust down below the windows, where it can do no harm. To effect this result I apply one or more deflecting strips or blades to the side of the car, arranging them to project edgewise therefrom and inclining them longitudinally, their higher ends being toward the front of the car, that the air which flows past the side of the car as the latter is drawn forward may strike their under surfaces and be deflected downward. W

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a railway passenger-car to which my invention has been applied. Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side elevation of the same upon a larger scale, showing one form of deflector more in detail; and Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-section.

Letters A A designate the deflecting-blades, of which I prefer to use several on each side of the car, and which I prefer to incline at about the angle shown. Each of these blades consists of a thin strip of metal or wood, preferably about four inches wide, set edgewise against the car and secured to it in any suitable manner.

The arrows B B show the direction in which the car is arranged to be moved, and the small arrows show the path of the air along the sides of the car and illustrate the action of the blades upon it. As each blade deflects a stream of air and forces it downward a rarefact-ion or partial vacuum is formed above or behind it, and a further quantity of air from above the blades is drawn down to fill the vacancy and passes along the back or upper side of the blade, leaving the latter at its bottom edge. These blades thus act both to forceand suck the air downward, and by their action a very decided downward current of air will be created, which current will encounter and overcome the less-powerful upward current of dust-laden air, drawing down the latter and keeping it from reaching the windows of the car.

I prefer that the upper ends of the blades shall extend somewhat above the plane of the window-sills, as shown, in order that they may directly affect the air passing across the latter and more certainly force it downward. In drawing-room cars and other cars having wide windows I prefer to provide one blade to each window and arrange them as shown in Fig. 1; but when narrow windows are employed one blade may be arranged under each two or more windows. It is not essential, however, that the car should be provided with as many blades as I have shown, as one or two long blades might answer the purpose.

When the car reaches the end of its route, and is to be drawn back with its other end foremost, the blades must be shifted to incline in the opposite direction, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, and they must be so attached to the car as to render this shifting possible if the car is intended to travel either end first. This attachment may be effected in many ways, among which may be mentioned end fastenings by means of pins or screws on or near the ends of the blades, adapted to engage holes or sockets suitably disposed in the side of the car, or brackets on the car to engage the ends of the blades; but I prefer to mount the blade upon a pivot placed at or near its center, on which it may be turned from one position to the other, and to provide one of its ends with a fastening, by which it may be fixed when placed in the proper position. This construction is shown in Figs. 2 and 3, a designating the pivot, which may be a headed pin or screw secured to the car and engaging a hole or eye in the blade or an eye or eyes in a fitting fixed to the latter, and b designating the end fastening, which may consist of a thumb-screw passing through an eye at or near the end of the blade and screwing into a threaded socket, 0, in the side of the car, as shown in Fig. 3. To shift the blade the screw is withdrawn, the blade turned on its pivot into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, and the screw caused to engage the socket c, opposite the first.

In lieu of an end fastening the pivot-screw at a may be tightened to hold the blade at any desired angle. I also contemplate shifting all the blades upon one side of the car simultaneously by means of a horizontal rod or cord engaging some part of each blade, and being fastened at one or both ends of the car, the blades being without fastenings, though they may be provided with stops to limit their movement and steady their ends.

The blades may be fiat and may project from the side of the car in a plane at right angles thereto, or be inclined with their outer edges either downward or upward, or be provided with a turned-down edge, as described; but I prefer that they should be warped somewhat, as seen in Figs. 2 and 3, being inclined below a right angle at one end and above that angle at the other, in order that they may first deflect the air downward and outward, and afterward force it downward and inward, or the reverse, ecordin g to which end is turned up.

These deflectillg-blades may be applied with advantage to the cab and tender of the locomotive and to the baggage-car, and upon the latter they may be considerably longer than on a passenger-car, as a baggage-car has usually no windows to be avoided, and their effeet in producing a downward current will be proportionately greater.

I claim as my invention- 1. A railway-car provided on each side with one or more deflecting-blades projecting ed gewise therefrom, arranged longitudinally, substanti ally parallel therewith, and inclined from end to end, the higher end or ends being toward its front, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. A dust-guard for arailway-car, consisting of one or more air-deflecting blades, each arranged edgewise against the side of the car, inclined longitudinally with its higher end toward the front of the car, and pivotally connected to the latter, in order that when the car is to run with its opposite end foremost the blade maybe shifted to a reversed position, its higher end being turned toward the opposite end of the car, substantially as and for the purposes setforth.

3. A railway-car provided on its side with a series of air-deflecting blades, A A, each connected thereto by a pivot, a, and provided with a fastening, b, for holding it in a longitudinally-inclined position, with its higher end toward either end of the car at pleasure, substantially as set forth.

4. A railway-car provided on its side with a series of air-defiectin g blades, A A, arranged edgewise thereto and longitudinally inclined, with their higher ends toward the front of the car, and each warped or twisted in one direction toward one end and in the opposite direction toward the other end, substantially as shown and Set forth.

'In witness whereof I. have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

FRANK M. STEVENS.

Witnesses HENRY GoNNEr'r, ARTHUR G. FRASER. 

